“The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes” was released on Nov. 17, 2023. It was the prequel to the previous four “The Hunger Games” movies. After a long eight years, movie fans finally got the backstory to the antagonist President Snow. 

All “The Hunger Games” movies are based off of the “The Hunger Games” books written by Suzanne Collins. The original book was published on Sept. 14, 2008 and was a worldwide success which inspired her to continue writing the series; and the most recent book, “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes”, came out on May 19, 2020. 

“The Hunger Games” series has a total of five movies: “The Hunger Games”, “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire”, “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay part one”, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay part two” and the new “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes”. This movie is nothing like the previous ones, the previous movies follow the protagonists, Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark, and their fight against the capital and the Hunger Games. This movie is a prequel about how President Coriolanus Snow got chosen to be a mentor in the tenth Hunger Games for District 23 Lucy Gray and follows how he came to be a tyrannical dictator. 

Fans and critics so far have had little bad things to say about the movie. Vox said, “ ‘Songbirds & Snakes’ has found a way to make ‘The Hunger Games’ feel new and sharp…Songbirds & Snakes flips everything we know about the Games, taking us to where it all started and Coriolanus Snow’s (Blyth) introduction to them.’ ” The movie overall was something new and enjoyable to watch, it was interesting to see how the movie producers would tell the story of how someone so awful came to be. 

Senior Jolee Olsen has been a fan of the books and movies for a long time. Olsen said,“ ‘Writing a book, and making a movie, about after the Hunger Games would’ve been adding to a finished story. It was good to learn new ground about a character that people didn’t have a lot of background knowledge about.’ ” Lots of people had similar viewpoints on this topic. It was reassuring knowing that Collins knew the story about Peeta, Katniss and “The Hunger Games” was done and it was time to write a new story starring a new character. 

However, it hasn’t all been positive reviews. ABC said, ” ‘The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes,’ now in theaters, takes a gamble of sorts by creating a prequel to the four-part “Hunger Games’ franchise — boasting a box office of $3 billion — without the power engine of Jennifer Lawrence. Big mistake. Set 64 years before Lawrence’s Katniss Everdeen ever drew breath, this pale imitation is seriously overlong and underwhelming.” People are worried that without the protagonist Katniss Everdeen, played by famous actress Jennifer Lawrence the movie won’t be the same. 

Throughout the movie, a lot of tension, thrill, and suspense is expected while the tributes try to fend for themselves and be the overall winner. It is plot twist after plot twist, as you are trying to see who the winner will be and how the mentors will react to their tribute losing. 

Overall the movie is a great addition to the series. Watch it if you would like to see how President Snow turned evil and what will happen to tribute Lucy Gray! You can buy tickets to go watch “The Hunger Games:The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes” here.